Street signal for vehicular traffic



Oct. 23, 192s.

J. A. CAMPBELL STREET SIGNAL FOR VEHICULAR TRAFFIC Filed..Ma.y 2, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 wunrk .Sb

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J. A. CAMPBELL STREET S'IGNAL FOR VEHICULAR TRAFFIC Filed May 2, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 j @Win61 f/af//Y A C/mPfLL Patented Oct. 23, 1.928.

JOHN A. CAMPBELL, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

STREET SIGNAL FOR VEHICULAR TRAFFIC.

'Application led May 2,

My present invention being referred to as a street signal or signals for the cont-rol of vehicular or other traffic., it may be understood to be an object of this invention to provide devices and organizations especially suitable for use at the intersections of streets, or Wherever traiiic is considerable, or where special caution or regulations are to be enforced;- as at schoolecrossings or at an entryffrn'to a boulevard where a stop before entry is .rcquired, or in the delimitation of pedestrian lanes or safety zones; and a preferred embodiment of my invention may comprise removable'strips of a durable material, adapted to extend transversely of a highway and to eX- tend above the level of a pavement sufficiently to give a perceptible jolt to the occupantpf any vehicle passing thereover at an excessive speed.

The mentioned strips` hereinafter referred to as iolt-strips, may vary in length, height and width, as well as in material and type, according to the intended place or circumstances of use: and some forms of my invention may comprise strips of a wear-resistant material, preferably with a. certain resilience, such. as a rubber composition having a warning color incorporated therein, said strips being preferably pivoted at one end to a pavement, and the pivots or other parts thereof being optionally emploved also as means for the support of a slow sign or a stop sign or a. turn sign, or the like, visible from a distance.

It is an obiect of this invention to provide traflic signalling or control means tending to the discomi'iture of any who may disregard the warnings thereof when the same are disposed transversely of a highway; but said control means may nevertheless be adapted to swing to a position parallel with a curb. during school hours or at other times when no special control of traffic, at a particular point of use, is required.

It. is thus an object of my present invention to provide zone-dening jolt-strips adapted to be seen from a distance and to be permanently or pivotally or otherwise secured to a pavement, and adapted to be used either independently of or conjointly with signs bearing legends; and preferred embodiments of my invention may comprise threaded or pivotal means for detachably securing said jolt-strips, a vertical post with a being optionally 1925. Serial No. 27,480.

seated centrally of a handle by which a pivot or screw may be manually manipulated.

It is a further object of my invention to provide jolt-strips having at their ends special means for their attachment; and these terminal attaching means may optionally be used conjointly with or independently of pneumatic or mechanical attaching means, or both pneumatic and mechanical attaching means, disposed between said ends.

Other objects of my invention will appear from the following description of typical ernbodiments thereof, taken in connection with the appended claims and the accompanying drawings, in which L Fig. 1 is a general plan View or map of a street crossing in connection with which various embodiments of my invention are employed.

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of a single embodiment of my invention, including attaching` means and a sign optionally associated therewith.

Fig. 3 is a top plan View such as is shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of an alternative f orm provided only with means for comparatively permanent attachment to a pavement.

Fig. 5 is a bottom view showing an optional use of suction cups such as may be employed in connection with any form of my invention.

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view llhicli may be regarded as taken centrally of In all of the above figures exceptingr Fig. 1, parts are broken away; and it should be understood that my signal devices may be of any desired length; and also that the vertical height or thickness of the strips employed in various embodiments of my invention is expected to depend upon the place of installation and the effects intended to be produced thereby; but some or all embodiments of my invention may comprise strips 11, of a wear resistant material such as a rubber composition, having a suitable coloring matter, as a red or yellow coloring matter, incorporated therein. These strips may be provided with beveled sides 12, 12', and with beveled ends 13, lzand the thickness or vertical height thereof is intended to be such that the driver of any vehicle passing thereover at a rapid rate of speed shall receive a jolt sucient to of an organization warn him that he has entered a zone of quiet c or has transgressed a traie regulation,-a

height of from 1 to 3 inches being suggestedy as suitable to the uses referred to.

Any preferred means may be. employed for the securing of the strips 11, which I ha-ve termed jolt-strips, to a pavement, For example, as suggested in Fig. 4, these strips may be cemented down or they may be provided with rows of apertures 14, adapted to receive retaining means, such as fiat headed or round headed spikes; but, in many eases, I consider it important to provide my jolt-strips withr means facilitating the removal of the same from a position of use to a position of disuse, or vice versa, at various hours of the day or night; and, for this purpose, I may provide the respective ends thereof with plates 15, 15', or the like, shown as secured thereto by means of rivets 16 and as apertured at 17, 17', to receive cooperating elements, which may be secured in a pavement.

' For example, I may secure, in proximity to a car track or curb, an interiorl threaded block or anchor element 18, ac apted to interiit within one of the mentioned apertures and to receive a threaded post 19, shown as extending thereabove and as provided with a handle 20, for use in screwing the same into or out of the block 18. The post 19 may optionally be provided with a. shoulder 21, shown as engaging the horizontal surface 22 of a bearing thimble 23, within which a cylindrical portion 24 of said' post may interit. Organizations of the general character described may be employed atl either or both ends of a joltstrip 11; or I may provide either or both ends of a `strip with simpler retaining means, such as a driven pin 25, shownas extending through the aperture 17 and as surrounded by a washer 26, held down by a horizontal lock pin 27; but I consider it advantageous to employ unlike attaching means at the respective ends of the joltstrip that is to be rapidly swung from an operative to an inoperative position, preferably employing a pin 25 as a pivot pin, positioned near a curb, or the like, this pin being left undisturbed, and the shifting of the jolt-strip 11 being then dependent upon the insertion or withdrawal of the threaded post 19, or its equivalent.

Jolt-strips used for the delimitation of, for example, boulevard stops, may ordinarily be secured permanently in place, as in t-he case of the strips 11 Fig. 1; and safetyzone strips may, if desired, be somewhat irregular in outline as suggested at 11", Fig. 1; but it is an important merit of the somewhat more complicated organization described as comprising thepost 19 and the pin 25. that, as suggested at 11 in Fig. 1, these jolt-strips are provided with means facilitating a pivotal shifting of the same from the transverse positions in which they are shown in full lines, to longitudinal and out-of-thevay positions, such as are indicated in dotted mes. e

Any or all forms of my invention may optionally be provided, on the lower surface of the mentioned olt-strips, either-with projecting means (not shown), or with depressions 28, adapted to serve as vacuum cups contributing to the retention oi said strips in their intended positions. It will be obvious that, when the latter are provided, especially in conjunction with a comparatively smooth or v slightly oily or moist pavement, the movement of a vehicle over one of my jolt-strips, tending momentarily to reduce the depth of the mentioned suction cups and to torce air therefrom, may contribute materially to the attachment of the same t-o a pavement.

In` conjunction with either ot the special attaching means best illust-rated'in Fig. 6, or independently1 thereof, I mav optionally provide means for the removable support of a visual signal or sign, such as a stop sign; and, for this purpose, I show the post 19 as provided with a cavity 29, adapted to receive an upright support 30, carrying a sign 31; and it will be obvious that.y when this construction is employed, the shifting of one of the jolt-strips 11 from a transverse to a longitudinal position is incidentally effective to move the said sign or signal from a display position to a position of disuse.

In order to adapt my jolt-strips to be used in either of the ways described, some oral] embodiments thereof may advantageously be provided not only with apertures 14 and suction cups 28 but with end plates l5, 15'; and, in order to provide for take-up, to compensate Jfor such elongation as may result from prolonged use, the plate 15, or its equivalent, may advantageously be provided, as suggested in Fig. 6, with more than one opening 17.

As intimated, all of my `jolt-strips are intended to be so colored, preferably by an incorporated coloring matter, as to render the salne conspicuously visible from a considerable distance, and all are intended to contribute to the discomiture of any driver who may disregard their suggestions or requirements. Pivoted organizations of the general character above described in detail, may be used with especial advantage in the region of a public school, or the like, being then swung transversely of a highway only during intermissions and for any necessary periods of time before the opening and after the closing of a. school.

Although I have herein described complete embodiments of my invention, suggesting various alternative types of construction and use, it should be understood that various features of my invention might beindependently employed, and also that numerous additional modifications might be devised, by those skilled in the art to which this case relates, without the slightest'departure from the spirit and scope of my invention, as the same is indicated above and in the following claims.

I claim as my invention:

l. A flexible strip having an appreciable ridge forming thickness, and composed of wear resistant material provided with beveled edges; and means at the ends thereof for the removable attachment of said strips to a pavement.

2. A flexible strip of wear resistant material provided with beveled edges; and means at the ends thereof for the removable attachment of said strip to a pavement, one of said attaching means being adapted to serve as a pivot.

3. A flexible strip of wear resistant material provided with beveled edges; and means at the ends thereof for the removable attachment of said strip to a. pavement, said attaching means comprising a pin extending above a pavement and provided with means for the removable retention of a plate thereon.

4. A flexible strip of wear resistant material provided with beveled edges; and means at the ends thereof for the removable attachment of said strip to a pavement, said strip being provided with suction cups.

5. A flexible strip of appreciable ridge forming thickness, and composed of wear resistant material provided with beveled edges; and means for the removable attachment of said strip to a pavement, said attaching means comprising spaced apertures.

6. A flexible strip of appreciable ridge forming thickness and composed of Wear resistant material' provided with beveled edges;

and means at the ends thereof for the removable attachment of said strip in rigid engagement with apa-vement, said attaching means comprising plates secured near opposite ends of said strip.

7. A flexible strip of wear resistant material provided with beveled edges; and means at the ends thereof for the removable attachment of said strip to a pavement, said attaching means comprising a bea-ring thimble extending through said strip.

8. A flexible `strip of appreciabler ridge forming thickness, and composed of wear resistant material provided with beveled edges; and means at the ends thereof for the removable attachment of said strip to a pavement, said attaching means comprising an anchor element secured in a pavement.

9. A flexible strip of appreciable ridge forming thickness, and composed of wear resistant material provided with beveled edges; and means at the ends thereof for the removable attachment of said strip to a pavement, said attaching means comprising an anchor element secured .in a pavement, and threaded means extending above and below said strip.

10. A flexible strip of wear resistant material provided with beveled edges; and means at the ends thereof for the removable attachment of said strip to a pavement, said attaching means comprising an anchor element secured in a pavement, and threaded means extending above said strip and there provided with a. handle adapted to carry a sign.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set.

my hand at Los Angeles, California,this 25th day of April, 1925.

JOHN A. CAMPBELL. 

